


Goodnight Blue

by frasierverse (orphan_account)



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Leonardo Has Insomnia, Sleep, let me have this i think it's cute, they like to get scritched?, turtles are basically puppies right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:27:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/frasierverse
Summary: Leo's still in his "Can I sleep here tonight?" phase.
Relationships: Leonardo & Splinter (TMNT)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 159





	Goodnight Blue

“Dad, I can’t sleep.”

Splinter didn’t turn around, just tugged the blanket up to his chin. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Dad,” Leo insisted, jabbing Splinter in the ribs. “Dad dad dad dad dad—”

“All right, already!” Splinter rolled over to scowl at Leo. He lifted up the blanket so his son could dive into bed. Probably not a good thing to reward Leo’s behavior, but, as Leo was likely aware, Splinter was too sleepy to push back.

Leo accidentally elbowed Splinter in the stomach twice while struggling to get comfortable. Splinter couldn’t recall how old his son was the last time he asked to sleep in Splinter’s room—the man’s stay in the Hidden City had irreversibly fractured his sense of time—but it had to have been years ago, before Leo developed the sharp bones and gangly, awkward legs of a growing teenager.

Back when Leo  _ wasn’t  _ twice his father’s size, he would share a bed with Splinter fairly often. He always had trouble sleeping as a child. Maybe it was just sleeping  _ alone _ that bothered him; Leo had always craved attention. He used to come up to Splinter every hour with a new skate trick or a breathless play-by-play of some  _ Jupiter Jim _ adventure. Unlike Raph and Mikey, who were happier to offer affection than to receive, or Donnie, who would only accept it on his own terms, Leo constantly wanted to be held or scratched or pet. Time wore on and Leo gained confidence and independence, but he still had the occasional bad night where he could only be soothed by his father’s presence.

Splinter shifted to face Leo. His eyes were shut tight, his jaw clenched. Splinter traced the creases in his son’s forehead with his thumb, wishing he could iron out all the tension and worry.

Leo’s eyes fluttered open. “Dad?” he mumbled. “What’s up?”

“Shh, shh, nothing,” Splinter replied, retracting his hand. “Just try to sleep.”

“OK,” yawned Leo. He closed his eyes again. A few moments passed before he reached for Splinter’s hand to place it back on his forehead. His troubled expression faded into a wan smile as his father gave him a gentle scratch.

Leo gently curled his hand around Splinter’s arm to make sure his dad wouldn’t be taking his hand away anytime soon. Splinter chuckled silently. Just like when Leo was younger, when he could barely wrap his fingers around his father’s wrist. Splinter shifted so that Leo could lay his head against Splinter’s torso. Leo’s snout was a little too big now to rest on Splinter’s collarbone, but Leo didn’t seem to mind. Splinter didn’t either.


End file.
